1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plate cylinder for rotary printing machines, in which the printing plate is manufactured, or configured with an image, digitally inside the machine, e.g. by spark erosion.
2. Background Information
On an offset printing machine such as that described immediately above, the images and the text to be transferred are typically digitized, and individual electrodes are then activated by means of a computer. The individual electrodes typically transfer the image elements to a thin foil which is used as the printing plate, so that each individual image element can then be inked and the ink can be transferred in a known manner, via the blanket cylinder, to the material to be printed. This relatively new printing process essentially makes it possible to print the most up-to-date information in an extremely short time, without experiencing the register deviations common with multicolor printing.
One requirement for the correct manufacture of the printing plate in question, i.e. for the precise application of the individual image elements to the printing foil, tends to be that the printing foil must generally be mounted on the plate cylinder with great precision (smooth and taut contact). The precise application of the individual image elements to the printing foil must also generally be accomplished in the shortest possible time, so as not to restrict the efficiency of such a printing press.